A pilot “misread” a runway at Guernsey Airport, before overshooting the landing strip and plunging into a field, a major accident report published this week has revealed.
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) published its final report this week into the dramatic April 2024 runway excursion – which involved a wet-leased Aurigny flight from Gatwick to Guernsey.
The freshly released report found that the pilot misjudged his landing after misreading Guernsey’s sloping runway, causing the De Havilland plane to “float” – touching down far beyond the normal landing zone.
Misjudged sloping runway
Because the flight was operating under a ‘wet-lease’ agreement, the aircraft and crew were provided by an overseas operator rather than Aurigny.
The commander had been based in Guernsey since the start of April and estimated he had completed about 23 landings at the airport before the incident.
According to air accident investigators, this relative lack of familiarity proved critical when the commander attempted a “gentle landing”.
The AAIB concluded that the commander misread the perspective of the runway because of its downward slope and did not realise how far the aircraft had floated before touching down.
Inexperienced crew
Investigators found neither the trainee co-pilot nor the safety pilot alerted the commander to the need for a go-around after the aircraft floated well beyond the touchdown zone.
The report said: “Due to the lack of experience of the other pilots on board, they did not inform the commander of the need to go around.
“Under the circumstances, having overshot the touchdown zone on a relatively short runway a go-around would have been expected.”
Even after the botched touchdown, the commander initially used normal braking and did not deploy reverse propeller pitch, believing there was sufficient runway remaining to stop safely.
Investigators found full braking was applied too late to prevent the overrun.
The plane ultimately overshot the paved runway by 30 metres, travelling into the overrun area.
Luckily, there were no injuries to the passengers or crew, and the aircraft escaped undamaged.
